The Greenwood School Board voted Tuesday evening to hire a Mississippi Student Information System (MSIS) district coordinator in a move to address the district’s probationary status.
The board voted to hire Clydia Boyd after Superintendent Montrell Greene said it could do so while remaining within the district’s budget.
The district’s accreditation status was recently downgraded by a state accreditation commission. Audits by the Mississippi Department of Education had found the district noncompliant with several state policies.
The final accreditation report, released in early September, said the district failed to “report complete and accurate data to the MDE concerning assigned duties, job titles, salaries, supplements, and funding sources.”
The creation of a full-time position tasked with ensuring the accurate reporting of such information is intended to bring the district back into compliance with state data-reporting standards.
“Currently, we have one person doing multiple things,” Greene told the board, adding that the new position would “dedicated to MSIS and MSIS alone.”
Also on Tuesday, Leo Murphree Jr., self-described “unofficial Greenwood High School historian,” asked the board to grant him “guardianship” over several sixth-grade composite pictures from W.C. Williams Elementary School, which closed last spring.
Murphree also asked for assistance in searching school facilities for missing class composites, of which there are several. He said he was concerned that without his involvement the composites would become lost or possibly damaged.
Board member Bill Clay requested that the board delay action on the request so its attorney, Carlos Palmer, could research the legal implications of transferring the composites into Murphree’s possession.
The board did agree to assist Murphree in locating the missing composites.
The board also swore in new member Deirdre Mayes, whose appointment was approved by the Greenwood City Council only minutes before the meeting.
Mayes served as the district’s business manager for five years before retiring in 2013. She will serve out the remainder of former board member Kathy Whicker’s five-year term, or roughly two years. Whicker resigned in July.
• Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
